Garage Lighting
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,512
Likes: 8
From: Cook Forest and Irwin PA
Look at cold weather fixtures and FT96t12HO/E bulbs - they light in the cold instantly - no gray.
I got 4 such fixtures in a 24x28 and 2 48" fixtures, on 3 circuits. very ample light - also painted the walls and ceiling white - however - I would have used OSB - you will find yourself wanting to screw stuff into the walls always - of course 5 years ago 7/16 osb was $5 a sheet, now its more expensive than sheets of freshly minted $20's
I got 4 such fixtures in a 24x28 and 2 48" fixtures, on 3 circuits. very ample light - also painted the walls and ceiling white - however - I would have used OSB - you will find yourself wanting to screw stuff into the walls always - of course 5 years ago 7/16 osb was $5 a sheet, now its more expensive than sheets of freshly minted $20's
Junior User
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
I'm getting ready to build my shop this spring--- it's been 18 yrs since I had one. (My former shop was a rental across the parking lot from my former apartment- I had to give it up when I bought my house.) Flourescent lighting will be my main illumination for the new shop. The old shop had poor lighting which I supplemented with some 48" fl. shoplites. When I had to do ALOT of work under the hood of my F-250 I had one of my friends drop by and help me remove the hood and lean it up against one of the walls. With the hood off, lots of light gets into the engine compartment- and it's cheaper than halogens. Just my .02
Tuned
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 439
Likes: 0
From: Erie, Pa
I have a 24 x 20 shop area the is lit with 11 8' florecent (sp) lights. My dad and I dumpster dive whenever 1 of the local supermarkets or retail stores remodel. All of these lights were free and all but 3 out of about 30 were bad. Replace the transformer in them and you are ready to go (we purchased 10 brand new ones at an auction for $10). I have plenty of light, and if I need more, I have drop lights.
Steve S.
To many to mention.
Steve S.
To many to mention.
Junior User
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
I just remembered another problem with my old shop at the apartments. It only had a 100 amp service panel. A couple of friends came by one day/night to do some work and everything was o.k. until we managed to trip the main breaker. (We were using several power tools and when one of us started welding at the same time, we managed to use more power than the service panel (breaker box) could supply. It got dark immediately and luckily no-one was injured. We talked about this little problem and agreed that in the future, (our own shops) that we would have a bigger main panel than 100 amps.
Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,043
Likes: 4
A book I have recommends 3 watts per square foot. For me that would be about 3KW of lights. Seemed way too much but on retrospect That would be 30 100W bulbs. With flourescent tubes in 2 tube fixtures I would need 15 fixtures. That comes to 3 rows of 5 fixtures in my 40 foot wide shop. I calculated the cost to be $1000 for LIGHTS and the load to be about 30 of the 100 amps I have in the garage. I decided to go with 1 row and add on later if I need to.
5th Wheeling
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
From: Somewhere USA
Watts is not a measure of light. It's a measure of energy consumption. Watts per foot means nothing unless you know what your light source puts out. 3W of light could be dim in the case of incandescent or brilliant in the case of Low Pressure Sodium or something using a halide format. It's the Lumens that count. So you have Metal Halides that put out very high lumens per watt, moving down through halogens, flourescents on down to incandescents putting out much lower lumens per watt. Thats' why plain old light bulbs make it look dark in a room for the same wattage as a flourescent fixture. There's some pretty good FAQ's on lighting out there on the web if you look around.
New User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Garage Lighting
Check my lighting out on my member page. Plenty of light anywhere in shop. I use the blue tint ones (they do not look blue to the eye) because of the lighting and you get actual color of your veh vs color looking like something its not. I have 15 double 8 footers in my main shop which is 30x40. walls are all white semi gloss for great light reflection. Even when standing under a car on hoist lighting is quite good. (although underneath when on hoist could be better)
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,816
Likes: 3
From: River Valley AR
I have used a 500 watt halogen mounted from the ceiling to use under the hood. It worked pretty well but then my buddy came across an old light from a dentist's chair and it is awesome for under the hood.
If you do any paint and body work be aware that different types of light emit more strongly in different areas of the spectrum. Sodiums go towards lots of yellow, halides have more blue, sometimes a combination of these works better than just one type.
86turbodsl is 100% correct about lumens vs. watts. Buying for wattage alone is like buying a vehicle because it gets poor mileage. If the mileage is poor because it makes 900 horsepower, that's good. But if it has poor mileage because it's just not efficient, that's another story.
If you do any paint and body work be aware that different types of light emit more strongly in different areas of the spectrum. Sodiums go towards lots of yellow, halides have more blue, sometimes a combination of these works better than just one type.
86turbodsl is 100% correct about lumens vs. watts. Buying for wattage alone is like buying a vehicle because it gets poor mileage. If the mileage is poor because it makes 900 horsepower, that's good. But if it has poor mileage because it's just not efficient, that's another story.
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
Likes: 37
Put your lights on different switches so you only have to power up the ones you need at any time. A few incandescent lights work great for quick light when running out to get a screwdriver in the winter. Flourescent lights sometimes don't like to start when cold.
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 586
Likes: 0
From: Tottenham Ontario Canada
I second the vote for separate circuits to keep the incandescents and fluorescents separate. Cold weather starts really seem to suck the life out of the tubes. I find they are only good for about a year and a half if they see a lot of winter starts - and I don't use them more than about 10-15 hours per week.
Put the light switch for the fluorescents somewhere that is not convenient for someone walking through the garage or just nicking in for a second - over the workbench is a good place. This is especially important if the garage is attached to the house and gets used as an entrance.
Cheers,
Eric
Put the light switch for the fluorescents somewhere that is not convenient for someone walking through the garage or just nicking in for a second - over the workbench is a good place. This is especially important if the garage is attached to the house and gets used as an entrance.
Cheers,
Eric
New User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
I was impressed with the "cold weather flourescents". I can't recall the name but they have different ballasts and tubes
My friend put 2 double 8" footers in his two car.....and as they should ...they light up bright even in cold weather..
My friend put 2 double 8" footers in his two car.....and as they should ...they light up bright even in cold weather..
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
Likes: 37
Surprisingly those cheapo electronic ballast flourescents available at the home box stores work in cold weather. I have been using three for years with good results in my garage. They make more noise starting in cold weather. You can't hard wire the units I have because the cord is part of the electronic ballast circuit. Maybe it is a resistor wire. I am thinking of just placing outlets on the ceiling and place the fixtures where I want them. I can move them if I want to.
Freshman User
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: Whidbey Island
I just bought same new lites for my shop. I bught the 8 foot fourescents from Home Depot will start at 0 F eleectronic ballastes they take 4- 4 foot tubes 8-T, the tubes are about 1 in dia. real nice cost $43. tube $2.43 for 2.
The best lite I have seen.
Clifford
The best lite I have seen.
Clifford